Battle of the Masts
The Battle of the Masts (Arabic: معركة ذات الصواري, romanized Dhat Al-Sawari) or Battle of Phoenix was a crucial naval battle fought in 655 between the Muslim Arabs, led by Abdullah bin Sa'ad bin Abi'l Sarh and the Byzantine fleet under the personal command of Emperor Constans II. The battle is considered, "the first decisive conflict of Islam on the deep."Ridpath, John Clark. Ridpath's Universal History, Merrill & Baker, Vol. 12, New York, p. 483. Background In the 650s, the Arab Caliphate finished off the Sassanid Empire and continued its successful expansion into the Eastern Roman Empire's territories. In 645, Abdullah ibn Saad was made Governor of Egypt by his foster brother Rashidun Caliph Uthman, replacing the semi-independent Amr ibn al-Aas. Uthman permitted Muawiyah to raid the island of Cyprus in 649 and the success of that campaign set the stage for the undertaking of naval activities by the Government of Egypt. Abdullah ibn Saad built a strong navy and proved to be a skilled naval commander. Under him the Muslim navy won a number of naval victories including repulsing a Byzantine counter-attack on Alexandria in 646.Carl F. Petry (ed.), The Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume One, Islamic Egypt 640-1517, Cambridge University Press, 1998, 67. ISBN 0-521-47137-0 In 655, Muawiyah undertook an expedition in Cappadocia while his fleet, under the command of Abdullah ibn Saad, advanced along the southern coast of Anatolia. It seems that Emperor Constans considered the naval part of the invasion the more dangerous, for he embarked against it with a large fleet. The battle The two forces met off the coast of Mount Phoenix in Lycia,Probably Mount Olympos south of Antalya, see "Olympus Phoinikous Mons" in Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, map 65, D4. near the harbour of Phoenix (modern Finike). According to the 9th century chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, as the Emperor was preparing for battle, on the previous night he dreamed that he was in Thessalonica; awaking he related the dream to an interpreter of dreams who said: Emperor, would that you had not slept nor seen that dream for your presence in Thessalonica - according to the interpreter, victory inclined to the Emperor's foes.Theophanes the Confessor, Chronographia, in J.P. Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vol.108, col.705Thessalonike can be read as «θὲς ἄλλῳ νὶκην», i.e., «give victory to another». See Bury, John Bagnell (1889), A history of the later Roman empire from Arcadius to Irene, Adamant Media Corporation, 2005, p.290. ISBN 1-4021-8368-2 As the ships came into battle range Constans raised the Cross and had his men sing psalms. The Arabs responded by raising the Crescent and trying to drown out the psalms by chanting passages from the Koran. Both the Cross and Crescent remained mounted on the masts throughout the battle giving the naval conflict its name.Part Great Sea Battles Have Played in History, New York Daily Tribune, 4 June 1905. The Arabs were victorious in battle, although losses were heavy for both sides, and Constans barely escaped to Constantinople.Warren Treadgold, A history of the Byzantine State and Society, Stanford University Press 1997, 314. ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 According to Theophanes, he managed to make his escape by exchanging uniforms with one of his officers. Aftermath Although the Arab fleet retreated after its victory, the Battle of the Masts was a significant milestone in the history of the Mediterranean, Islam and the Byzantine Empire, as it established the superiority of the Muslims at sea as well as on land. For the next four centuries, the Mediterranean would be a battleground between Byzantines and Muslims. In the aftermath of this disaster, however, the Byzantines were granted a respite due to the outbreak of a civil war among the Muslims. This gave Constans the time to reorganize the Byzantine defences, especially in the Western Mediterranean and the Exarchate of Africa. References Category:Naval battles involving the Byzantine Empire Category:Battles of the Muslim conquests Category:655 Category:650s conflicts Category:Military history of the Mediterranean Category:Naval battles involving the Umayyad Caliphate Category:7th century in the Byzantine Empire Category:Battles of the Arab–Byzantine wars Category:650s in the Byzantine Empire